Tony Khan Says AEW Hit Its Stride After He Stopped Listening to Everyone’s Advice

Tony Khan believes AEW is firing on all cylinders creatively—and it didn’t happen by committee. According to Khan, the company reached its current peak once he made a major change: he stopped taking advice and started trusting his own instincts again.

In a new interview with Q101, Khan opened up about what led to AEW’s creative resurgence in late 2024 and 2025. After years of fielding input from multiple voices backstage, Khan said he decided to take full control again—just like he did during AEW’s early days at Daily’s Place during the pandemic.

“I came back with a plan in 2025 and really late 2024 was all building to this. Absolutely. And then in early 2025, I had that same realization that I need to do what I did five years ago and just block out everything and just uh focus on AEW and not listen to everybody’s advice and maybe just make the show what I think it should be.”

Khan didn’t name names, but the message was clear—too many cooks in the kitchen had been diluting AEW’s vision. That all changed when he returned to a more singular approach to booking the shows. The result, according to Khan, is a stretch of programming he considers AEW’s best run yet.

Khan also shared that his longtime friend Todd—who first encouraged him to run weekly wrestling shows—praised All In: Texas as the best wrestling payoff since WrestleMania 3. While that’s a massive comparison, Khan didn’t disagree, calling the show AEW’s proudest moment to date.

“He said he thought it was the best payoff of all the stories since WrestleMania 3 in 1987. Incredible. I was like, wow, especially knowing him, that’s the highest praise. I thought that was really cool.”

As AEW moves deeper into 2025, Khan seems confident that keeping his inner circle small—and his vision focused—is the key to continuing their momentum. For a company built on long-term storytelling, this renewed direction may be exactly what keeps AEW ahead of the curve.

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